Wolverine: Return to Weapon X
by enigma939
Summary: Post-X3. Wolverine is reunited with allies from his forgotten past when he learns about the latest conspiracy hatched by the insidious Weapon X project, of which he is a part.
1. Chapter 1: The Summons

**Wolverine: Return to Weapon X**

**A/N: **This is essentially my version of a post-X-men trilogy sequel to X-men Origins: Wolverine. Wolverine and all related characters are properties of Marvel Comics and 20TH Century Fox.

**Chapter 1: The Summons**

He raced along the mountain road on his motorcycle…Cyclops' motorcycle which he had 'inherited' since the former X-men field leader's death. He paid no attention to the scenery…to the sights and sounds and smells and the hundreds of little things that a lifetime of violence, remembered only in instinct if not in actuality, had trained him to do whenever he entered a new surrounding. But he couldn't help…he couldn't think, much less act rationally…his mind, his senses were still reeling under the onslaught of an attack. A _psychic _attack.

It had started two days ago. He had been sitting in the garden at the Mansion when the first visions entered his mind. Visions of a place or places…clearings in the forests, mountains, valleys, lakes…he couldn't make out exactly…and the voices echoing in his head…_Logan, Logan, Logan…find me, Logan…I need your help…come and find me…_

He had been alarmed by this summons. His first impulse was that it was Jean who was calling him. Jean, who had summoned him once before to a forest clearing where Magneto was planning his war against humanity. Jean, who had summoned her lover Scott Summers to his demise…but no, Jean was dead. Dead by his hand. It was someone else. He could sense it somehow deep down within him. And yet that other person was…familiar. Somehow. All he knew was that he desperately needed to find her. There would be no piece for him otherwise.

So he informed Storm that he would be taking off again. Ororo didn't seem to mind as much as she might have…after all, things had been awfully quite since the Alcatraz incident months ago, so it was not like they desperately needed him…she didn't even bother to ask him where he was going. Probably because she'd learned to give him his own space by now. No matter how much he made himself at home in the Mansion, he would never truly be one of _them. _It was something he had learned to accept…he was _not _like other people. Human or mutant.

Logan was deeply concerned however about the effects this psychic attack was having on him. He didn't know where he was going and yet somehow he did. He just kept moving forward, without knowing really where, except that he felt the assurance that he would find the right place. That he would find _her_. Sometimes, when he stopped for a while to rest, or when he closed his eyes, the visions and voices would start again. They would not let him rest until he'd found her. It scared him, the effects the psychic attack was having on him. Logan didn't really like the idea of psychic power much. He was a man who relied on his senses, and his senses were useless against a force which could manipulate them or render them redundant altogether. It was a strange aversion for a man who had grown close to two people who were in fact psychic, but he had his reasons for that; Professor Charles Xavier had given him a second chance, the opportunity for a fresh start, the chance to become more than just a wandering savage…and Jean, well, he had loved her…

But whoever was calling him wasn't the Professor nor was it Jean…it was someone else entirely. Someone he was sure he knew, but couldn't remember. But whoever it was, he would soon find her. Yes, he was sure it was a _her_.

It was late in the evening where he stopped by a forest clearing. He stopped his bike, got off it, and made his way into the forest. He tried sniffing around but he could find no one. Sense no one. He walked along the forest silently but aimlessly, having no idea where he was heading. For the first time in the last two days, he did not feel like he was being manipulated, drawn by some mysterious force…

He stopped by a lake towards the end of the forest and stared down into its depths contemplatively, as though waiting for something. For he was convinced that whatever was to happen…it would happen _now_.

And it did happen. Something induced him to turn around. Which he did, and was confronted by the person he was convinced had led him here. Instinct told him to unsheathe his claws, yet they remained where they were. Try all he could, he wasn't able to unsheathe them…it was as though they didn't exist for him!

As though in a dream, he stared at the figure before him. She was a stunningly beautiful woman, a platinum blonde with shoulder length hair, clad in a white leather suit, with a cape. But struck Logan about her first and foremost was not her beauty but the fact that she seemed, in some strange other-worldly way, familiar to him. He _knew _her, he'd seen her before…somewhere, somehow…in that forgotten past of his. There was a confidant and assured quality about her…she was a woman used to having her way. That much was evident.

"Oh please keep those claws of your's sheathed, will you Logan?" she said confidently. "You don't mind if I call you Logan, do you? Your other name, 'Wolverine' sounds so…childishly theatrical, wouldn't you say?"

"Who the bloody hell are you?" demanded Logan.

The woman gave a brief smile and said, as though she were announcing a royal title, "My name is Emma Frost".


	2. Chapter 2: The Request

**Wolverine: Return to Weapon X**

**Chapter 2: The Request**

The name meant nothing to Logan.

But the _face_…the face meant a great deal. He _had _met this woman before…but _when_? And _where_? He desperately wanted to find out.

"And who the hell is _that _supposed to be?" Logan asked sarcastically. "Royalty?"

"Actually, they _do _call me White Queen at the Hellfire Club. But that's besides the point", said Emma Frost. "Actually I'm not surprised you don't remember me. We met only briefly you and I…once, fifteen years ago. Or was it sixteen? It keeps slipping my mind. And then there is your amnesia to take into account…"

"How the hell do I know you?" Logan asked.

"All in good time. It's a vital part of my story", replied Emma.

"_You _brought me her", he said accusingly.

Emma smiled. "Actually, _you _brought yourself here…I merely showed you the way".

"Cut the crap and tell me why?" Logan demanded, but Emma seemed to ignore his questions. "I've been keeping an eye on you for quite a while. I must say, I was surprised to find out you were living in the school. You did not quite seem the ideal recruit for dear old Professor Xavier's pacifistic agenda. But once I knew where you were, monitoring you became quite an easy task…I knew that Jean had summoned you once before in this manner, so I decided to do the same…only with a few added refinements of course", she added with a smile.

"You know about the Professor, about Jean?" Logan asked incredulously. "How?"

"Let's just say I'm an old member of the family. The prodigal daughter if you please. Jean was the pretty and perfect one who lived Xavier's dream…until those untamed powers of hers drove her crazy…I was the one who learned what little control I needed to…and then spent my time honing it in…better places".

"You were part of the school? Of the team?" Logan asked. Too much was happening too fast.

"Oh I was a pupil at that school alright…for all of five years…but I never truly became one of the Professor's precious little 'X-men'. The whole idea seemed ridiculous to me then…it seems ridiculous to me now. But arguing about that is not why I brought you here", Emma explained.

"Oh yeah. Then why _did _you bring me here?" Logan asked.

"Because of something that concerns us both. Tell me, do you remember a man by the name of William Stryker".

Time stopped for Logan as his mind raced back to the recent past. William Stryker. Military scientist and fanatical visionary…the manipulator and liar who had nearly eliminated the mutant race…more significantly to Logan, the man who was responsible for bonding his skeleton to the indestructible metal known as adamantium, for turning him into the savage animalistic killing machine known as Wolverine…a man who, for all Logan knew…was responsible for his memory loss as well.

"Of course I do", Logan replied; hatred and rage barely concealed in his voice and certainly not by his expressions.

"I though you would. I knew you were involved with whatever happened at Alkali Lake recently. Stryker was killed there, or so the world believes. Because either he has survived, or someone else is carrying on his 'good work'", Emma said.

"What?" Logan exclaimed, barely believing what he heard.

"You heard me correctly, Logan. Stryker's legacy lives on…and you can be sure that whatever it is, you and I are intended to be a part of it. _You _especially", she added.

"Well, lady, you can tell the bastard I want no part in it", Logan gruffly retorted.

"Neither do I, I assure you. You have no idea what it feels like…to be locked up in a cage, treated like an animal, being…experimented on…", Emma began, but Logan cut her off curtly, "I do".

"No you don't. You don't remember it. What little you _do _remember you can pass of like a nightmare. But not me. For me, it was real, and will _always _be real. Even after all this time, I still dream of that dreadful place…" Emma continued.

"Save me the sob story, lady. Just tell me what you want", Logan said.

"I need your help. Or to be more specific, you need mine. _We _all need you to know the threats that face you…we need you to be ready when the time comes…_if _the time comes…"

"No one is coming after me", Logan said firmly. "Not now, not _ever_".

"Oh they will, someday. You will be their final target…first they will gather the rest of us…_work _on us…and then, when they're ready, they will come for you, _using _us…", Emma said.

"I'm afraid you're not making a whole lot of sense here", Logan said.

"To put in plainly, they wish to recapture you, brainwash you, and transform you into the perfect weapon you were _meant _to be", Emma said. "And _I'm _your only hope for survival!"


	3. Chapter 3: Reminiscence

**Wolverine: Return to Weapon X**

**Chapter 3: Reminiscence**

"It was on an island. Three Mile Island", Emma said, beginning her story. She and Logan were near the edge of the lake; he was sitting on a log, she was leaning casually against a tree.

"We are all in cages, heavily guarded. But you came there, and tore through the cages with your claws. You then helped us get out of there. But then Deadpool appeared and you told us to leave and stayed behind to fight him", Emma said.

"Deadpool?" Logan asked, puzzled.

"Stryker's ultimate weapon. His prized experiment. Created by combining the DNA's of several mutants…given him all of their powers", Emma explained. "You killed him, or so I've heard".

"What happened then?" asked Logan.

"I don't know. Professor Xavier found us. He had actually contacted Scott telepathically, and helped him guide us to him", Emma said.

"Scott? Cyclops? _He _was there?" Logan asked incredulously.

"Yes. He had been captured by one of Stryker's henchmen shortly before the escape. Obviously, he didn't see you…he was blindfolded", Emma explained. "I never told him much about you later…I didn't _know _much about you then".

"I don't remember any of this", Logan admitted truthfully. "Though when I first saw you now…I was sure I'd met you before. Somewhere".

"After the incident on the island", Emma continued, "Stryker's project was officially closed down and the man spent a couple of years in legal battles. But eventually, they bailed him out. The government needed his…_expertise_…in solving the 'mutant problem'. But off late, it seems that Project Weapon X has survived. In a new form".

"Weapon X", Logan murmured, as though in a trance. _She had said it…those hateful, loathsome words…he was back in time and space…in a tank filled with water, numerous tubes and needles attached to his body…and _he _was there, standing on a railing…Stryker…a much younger, clean-shaven Stryker… "Today, we are going to witness medical history…today we create…Weapon X!"_

"That was me", he muttered. "_I _was Weapon X".

"Yes, you were. Or at least, that's what they intended you to be. The tenth in a line of living weapons; the product of the tenth incarnation of a weapons program dating back to the Second World War. But Weapon X was originally meant to be only a stage…one among many steps towards Stryker's ultimate weapon…Weapon XI. Deadpool", Emma explained.

"But it seems to me that with his plans vis a vis Deadpool frustrated, Stryker decided to revive and expand Weapon X. Go back to the concept of highly skilled mutant mercenaries…except that this time, I believe he had taken it a step further", Emma said.

"Brainwashing", she explained. "It's what they would have done to you, eventually. Had you not escaped".

The words came to him again, words from the past. _Erase his memory_.

"Yeah. They were going to do something like that", Logan said.

He paused for a moment and then added, "But Stryker's dead. So that means…"

"That someone else is carrying out his plans", Emma completed the sentence.

"And how do you know that?" Logan asked.

"Because I've spent the better part of a year escaping agents sent to capture me. And so have others. Others you know…or rather, _knew_", said Emma. "Since then we've spent a lot of time trying to find out everything we can about the new Weapon X program. Gambit was sneaking around an office building one day, an undercover base of some sort, and he heard them mention something about how they were planning to recapture you. They had found out where you were, however they said something about needing more 'firepower' before taking you on". She paused before adding, "It was then that we…that I decided we needed to reach you. Gambit of course, warned me about your amnesia…"

"Who's Gambit?" Logan asked.

"You'll find out in due course of time. You will be meeting everybody soon", she said. "You see, we need to work together and decide on a course of action…because whatever Weapon X is planning, it's something big…it goes beyond just recapturing a few old inmates and brainwashing them to become mercenaries…there is something more to it. Whatever it is may affect the entire mutant community at large. As if the so-called Cure wasn't enough trouble", she continued.

"Well, if there is something fishy going on, and it involves me then I'm sure as hell interested in dealing with it. But since you claim this thing is big…then I think we'll need help. I could get some help for us", Logan said, after thinking for a few moments.

"A very generous offer Logan, but one I'm afraid we'll have to decline. You see, all of _us _are already on their radar. We're already being hunted and we have nothing to lose by being discovered. But as far as we know, they know nothing much about the X-men, nor do they really care. The X-men are not yet on their watch-list and if they get involved with our mission, they will be. Weapon X certainly wouldn't resist the lure of additional mutants. I don't want the X-men to be marked by them. Despite my prior…disagreements with Professor Xavier…I owe him too much too let his students, his associates get into harm's way. No, we'll keep this between ourselves for now. If…when we need help, you can call your friends. Agreed?" Emma asked.

"Agreed", said Logan. He too would prefer that the X-men were not involved. There was enough for them to do at the school as it was anyway. There simply was no time for them to get involved in a mission in which they had virtually no real stake. Besides, he, like Emma, owed too much to Xavier to put his students in harm's way.

"So where are these 'others' you keep talking about?" Logan asked.

"We'll meet them tomorrow. And we'll make our plans then", Emma said.

Emma had a hired car nearby…an SUV driven by a man who had obviously been entranced by her telepathy. After strapping Logan's bike onto the back of the van, they left. The car stopped at a motel, where they got off.

"I've already booked two rooms in there", Emma said. "Tomorrow morning, we'll head out into the mountains again. That's where the rendevouz point will be".

Logan drank down a couple of cans of beer and then lay down on the soft surprisingly comfortable bed, his mind going over all Emma Frost had told him barely a few hours ago. With regards to the subject of tomorrow, he was filled with a sense of both anticipation and dread…for he was about to re-enter the past…the past he had wanted to know about for so long…but also the past which yielded many unpleasant answers to unpleasant questions…


	4. Chapter 4: Reunion

**Wolverine: Return to Weapon X**

**Chapter 4: Reunion**

Early next morning, they drove towards the mountains in silence. Emma had dismissed the driver…she was now driving the van, while he sat beside her in silence, his thoughts drifting aimlessly.

He had not slept well last night. As he had feared, nightmares had returned to haunt him. Nightmares of a lifetime of violence and death. He dreamed once more of the tank…he dreamed of the excruciating pain like no other…pain caused by the adamantium bonding process…he dreamed off the claws bursting through his forearms for the first time…of the mad desperate rush for freedom…of Stryker…

"_Become the animal…embrace the other side", the voice echoed inside his head._

"_You wanted the animal, Colonel…You've got it"._

"What are you thinking about?" Emma asked him suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Can't you tell…" he asked her.

"Well, I can vaguely sense some things…truth be told, the torments of _your _mind are something I can do without for the time being. Especially since we shall be dealing with _fresh _torments soon", she said.

"And you say I'm lucky because I don't remember anything", Logan said, the sarcasm evident in his voice.

Emma ignored what he said. "Did you get the chance to talk to Stryker…before he died?" she asked.

"Yeah", said Logan.

"Did he tell you anything? Anything that might be useful?" Emma asked.

"Nothing. He told me how I volunteered for the procedure…that I was always an animal", he said softly.

Emma sat in silence for a few moments. Then she asked again, "Exactly _what _happened at Alkali Lake? I know that Stryker had launched a psychic attack against the global mutant populace. But how?"

"He kidnapped Xavier…manipulated him into using Cerebro. If you know about Cerebro, you would know that with it, the Professor has enough power to kill every mutant in the world he can track", Logan said.

"But no brainwashing technique Weapon X could have perfected would be able to work on the Professor. He's much too powerful for that", said Emma.

"Oh, Stryker went to the source with Xavier. His son, Jason", Logan added.

"My God! He used to keep his son on the island you know. In a special cell. Frozen. He used his son as a _weapon_?" Emma asked.

"His son was a mutant. Just like any other. Stryker saw he had his uses…probably the only reason the boy was still alive", Logan said.

"And now the boy is…" Emma began.

"Dead", said Logan. "We had no chance of saving him".

"Oh…and I though they were going to use the boy to brainwash you. Tell me; were there any other…agents? Weapon X operatives?"

"Only one. This woman. Yuriko Oyama. She had the same powers as me. She had a whole lot of adamantium as well. But she's dead", Logan said.

"Lady Deathstrike? That's what some of the guards at one of the bases called her. She was brainwashed?" Emma asked.

"Controlled using some sort of drug, derived from Jason Stryker's brain fluid, I think the Professor told me. But Oyama was a trained operative…there was another mutant, Kurt Wagner, but he was alright…Stryker just needed him for one job…to assassinate the President…and he failed", Logan explained.

"He needed someone expendable…someone who couldn't be traced back to him. But make no mistake…the people his successor has in command now are trained professionals…like you", Emma said.

"Yeah", agreed Logan bitterly. "Like me".

They had been waiting for nearly an hour on a mountainside clearing when the first of Emma's associates arrived. An extremely large and obese mutant, who barely fit into his oversized clothes. The man, who Emma introduced as Fred Dukes, was quite surprised to see Logan.

"Man, Logan. How long has it been? Fifteen years? You haven't changed one bit", Fred exclaimed.

"Neither have you, by the looks off it", Logan commented, vaguely remembering the obese mutant in front of him.

A few minutes later, an African American mutant dressed almost literally for the Wild West materialized out of thin air. He was slightly older than the way Logan remembered him, but he was sure he'd met the man before. He just didn't remember his name.

"Oh, there you are, Logan. Long time no see. My name's Wraith. John Wraith, in case you'd forgotten. Though I go by 'Kestrel' these days. I heard you go by 'Wolverine'", Wraith said.

"Well…I seem to know you from somewhere Wraith, but I'm afraid I don't remember", Logan said.

"You and me, Logan…we go back a LONG way…to a time I wish I never had to ever _think_ about again…but here we are, once more…ready to go back into that God-awful nightmare. Nothing ever changes", he said. "By the way, I never did get the chance to congratulate you on taking down Stryker's operation on that island of his. Of course, I was half-dead in a hospital for weeks, but Emma here tells me you did one hell of a job", Wraith said.

"Well, I'm afraid I don't remember much about that 'hell of a job'", said Logan. "But thanks anyway".

"No problem. Now all we've got to do is wait for Gambit to show up", Wraith said.

The last member of their group appeared ten minutes later. He was a Southerner undoubtedly, wearing a long trench-coat and with a certain carefree and reckless attitude about him. The moment Logan saw him he froze. For he _remembered _that man…that face was not merely a vague imprint from a forgotten past…it was a face he had briefly encountered in the remembered one! It was in fact the earliest face he could ever recall seeing, when he woke up on the ground, with an unbearable searing pain in his head, on an …island. Yes, that was it. He had been come to life…as he knew himself, on an island! Was it the same island Emma had talked about?

It was _this _man who had told him that the name on the dog-tags he was wearing was truly his…Logan. It was _this _man who told him he was a friend…

"This is Remy LeBeau. We call him Gambit", Emma explained.

"It's been a long time, Logan", commented Gambit, although somehow, he himself looked barely a day older than that time on the island.

"_You_", Logan said shocked. "_You're _Gambit!"

"Funny you should say that…considering that _you _were the one who once told me…what was it again?…ah, yes… "I know who you are, Gambit"…but of course, you don't remember anything, do you?" Gambit asked.

Logan was getting tired of hearing that question. He felt frustrated, utterly and completely frustrated, about the fact that he was standing here, surrounded by people who in some way or the other, knew _far _more about his past than he did.

"You're still wearing that jacket, Logan?" Gambit asked.

Logan stared at his well-worn and trusty black leather jacket, with three horizontal yellow stripes on each shoulder. He remembered finding the jacket on the island.

"It was yours. You'd left it in my plane. Thought I'd leave it behind before I left…hoping you'd find it", Gambit explained.

The mystery of the jacket solved so casually, Logan was suddenly bursting with questions about his past. Finally, after so many years, he had found people who were willing to give him answers that had so often eluded him…but he knew that the time for questions and answers would have to wait…for now that everyone was assembled, they had work to do…

**A/N: **Yeah, I know you're all wondering how come Wraith is still alive, but don't worry, it will all be explained in a later chapter


End file.
